Features a Russian language course for beginners. This book is designed to provide the student with an excellent command of basic Russian (the equivalent of A level standard). It features thirty lessons punctuated by revision exercises. It places an emphasis on acquiring vocabulary, experiencing conversational language and learning useful grammar.

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4.5 out of 5 stars
300 reviews

Pavel

2.0 out of 5 starsI don't recommend this book

30 January 2017 - Published on Amazon.com

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I am a native Russian speaker myself and bought it for my girlfriend to help her learn Russian. This book uses a very outdated vocabulary circa 1980s with many buzzwords from that time. Also, from my girlfriend's feedback: pronunciation explanations are not correct, she said I pronounce words differently for what the book suggests.

5.0 out of 5 starsThoughts from a bilingual Vietnamese-English speaker

26 September 2017 - Published on Amazon.com

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I've seen many sites, and Gabriel Wyner (author of Fluent Forever), recommend this book as the go-to self-study guide for learning Russian, particularly Russian grammar. Already my copy has pages yellowed from me constantly thumbing through them. This is a concise, very useful handbook for adult learners. There are no pictures or colors like you would see in children's workbooks (not that it's a detriment to this book, just a comment to inform on how it's presented). The lessons follow a logical progress of how a complete beginner would pick up the rules of the language, and I really like the format of how examples follow the rules. I especially like that the author includes stress marks to make pronouncing words much easier. The small size of the book does make the exercises look crowded and a bit daunting (doesn't help that I'm horribly nearsighted), so I have to write them out on a separate, larger piece of paper for them to feel and look a little "user-friendly." Everything else, from the vocabulary lists to maps, looks great in these pages, though. I hope that by the end I can reach A2-level Russian. Of course, with language learning, the best way to pick up a language is to use a variety of resources. Russian reading and comprehension are these book's focuses and strengths; supplement it with audio and practicing dialogue with native speakers.

This is the BEST book ever. I've been using it to tutor private students in basic Russian, and I could find nothing better! I recommend Duolingo.com and Babbel drills, along with this book - best program. I just wish they'd publish a workbook!!!All that said, I'm now starting Beginners Russian (Kudyma), which has an online workbook. I really wish the Penguin book had a workbook (print or online) - or, a suggestion: simply reformat the current book with larger pages so there's room to do the exercises in the book! That would be a terrific improvement for a terrific book! If Penguin would do that, this book would have a new life and sell more with little effort or expense.

5.0 out of 5 starsWonderful book for beginners, engaging and easy to read.

11 July 2014 - Published on Amazon.com

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This is a very very good book to begin learning Russian grammar and basics. I always thought learning a language from a book would be incredibly difficult. So, when I decided to buy this book I was not expecting to get much use out of it. Boy was I wrong. This is actually a very great book to learn from!

Though it may be a bit outdated in some of the cultural aspects, it teaches very well. I go through about a chapter a day and this has worked for me. It's great for being able to read, but to be able to actually pronounce I would suggest using some other method with audio. The grammar is explained in the simplest way possible. This book has helped me when other programs have not been able to. In every chapter there is new vocabulary, sample sentences, dialog or stories to read from, and a grammar lesson. There are also helpful hints on how to use certain phrases, or info on the culture. Also helpful is the use of accents on some letters, which will aide in pronunciation. I am really learning a lot from this book so far. I love it!

This book is fantastic for those just starting out. As well as though needing a grammar refresher. I would, however, use this book in combination with something that will teach pronunciation, such as a CD, or a language learning program with audio.

As a Russian beginner, I can say that this book is definitely okay to start from. Who cares if it doesn't include audio? There are plenty of resources out there that you can use to hear pronunciation of the words. This book is not dry. It is engaging, easy, and fun to read. I would recommend it.